Dance of Night, Death of Morning
by KnightOfLelouch
Summary: I never as for this life...When a new resident moves to the isolated village of Sotoba, can he survive the death that surrounds it or will he be forced to succumb to the demons he's managed to suppress.
1. Chapter 1

Dance of Night, Death of Day; Chapter 1: The Town in the Mountains

It was late, dark in the village. A small child happily skips down the road, a smile about their face as they hum a happy tune under the moon. His long black hair moved with his steps, as his bright crimson red eyes looked around and around. He had only moved to the village recently and he wanted to the see the houses and to meet the people. Though the move had taken a lot longer than he had thought and it was dark when they had finished. But that didn't stop him from exploring,

He had been given the house by his older sister and he was so happy. He loved he got presents especially from his sister. It was a nice little place in the forest, it was quite and the house itself was normal enough surrounded by nature.

He had arrived in the middle of the summer, though he had to admit there seemed to be a gloom around the village and he didn't know why. He pushed it to the side and continued his walk and jumped up onto the metal rails and began balancing on the metal; suddenly he felt a grumbling in his stomach making him fall on his butt.

"Awe!" he cried rubbing his backside, "Again! Tummy I feed you not even half an hour ago and you still want more" he scowled his stomach which just gave another rumble, 'I guess it has been a long time' he puffed out his cheeks before standing up with a huff.

"Alright you get one more meal then I don't want to hear from you until tomorrow night!" he told his stomach and the growling stopped. Suddenly he stopped talking to his stomach and turned with curiosity as a noise caught his attention.

Looking back he was meet with the sight of a figure stepped out of the forest, dressed in a long white robe, he looked to be an older male cocking his head.

"Hello there little boy are you lost?" he asked smiling at the boy who continued to balance himself on the metal rail, "No I'm not lost!" he proclaimed as the man just smiled at him, though he had to admit the smile was creepy.

"Why don't you come with me" he suggested motioning for the other to come towards him. The boy just stood there, switching between his footings back and forth before replaying by shaking his head.

"Why not?" he cocked his head, "I don't want to, I maybe small but I'm not naïve" he said before leaning over and doing a cart wheel off the railing, turning his back to face the man, "Are perhaps new to the village?" he said as Alex now turned to him a smile on his face,

"Maybe" he giggled doing another cartwheel, "I just moved here, wanna play a game mister?"

The man was taken aback by the boy's enthusiastic personality, "Let's play catch! If you catch me I'll go with you!" he bounced up and down before turning and running away, "Come on you have to catch me!" he repeated as he raced down the road.

"My names Alexander by the way!" he called back, "But people call me Alex!"

The man gave a cocky smirk before going after the boy and disappearing into the darkness.

The small boy tapped on the dirt patting down on the large mound. Wiping his brow he happily smiled dusting the dirt from his red jacket.

"I'm dusty now!" he giggled before turning around and walking into the forest.

"He wasn't that good, too bad" wiping his mouth on the side of his mouth licking the red the side of his hand, but as he ventured deeper into the forest and while walking somehow ended up in another place. Looking around he spotted mounds of dirt with poles sticking out them. Looking at the poles he noticed each of them had names written on them.

He stopped at one reading the name, "Hiromi Murasako" he read noting the age and description written on the white pool. "Only 9 huh?" he frowned at this cocking his head to the side, placing his hand on the pole, "Such a short life cut short" he said as he continued to read over the pole graves.

Looking over he spotted another pole reading, "Susumu Yasumori, 6" he sighed at yet another tragic end to a young life. It was then a thought crossed his mind, it was possibly wrong or maybe it was just right.

He stood there, 'I wish I had someone to play with' he thought, he didn't know if there were other kids in the village, though he probably couldn't play with them anyway. Looking up at the moon a thought crossed his mind as he made his way out of the graveyard and back into the forest.

"I'm going to have new friends' he smiled to himself before turning on his hills before finding his way back to the main road.

"It's so deserted out here at night" he spun around once before doing a small cart wheel down the road, "All this farmland, but no animals" he giggled doing another cart wheel down the road.

"But now the question remains where to eat" he thought, he didn't know the village at all and because of the time the shops would be closed. His stomach gave another growl apparently not too happy with the thought of no food,

"Stop that" he scowled his stomach, "Guess I'll have to go dig into my secret stash" he sighed as he dug into his jacket and pulled out a small sack. Rambling through the small satin bag he pulled out a circular object from the bag before popping it into his mouth and savoring the taste. With a gushing smile he giggles as he ate the candy.

"Yummy~" he smiled happily, reaching into the bag he pulled out another small candy, this time a sucker, and as he began licking and sucking on the candy he began walking back down the road.

As the small boy hopped from root to root of the tree's that lined the forest floor, Alex was headed home, and he would visit the village tomorrow. He wasn't hungry anymore, thanks to his candy, and now was happily walking through the forest back to his house. Suddenly a sound caught his attention. He stopped on a cliff that looked over a small clearing and his crimson eyes fell on a group on figures standing below.

"Alright everyone listen up!" a commanding voice called as the group quitted down and turned their attention to the other side of the clearing. Out of the forest walked a tall, muscular male, he had blue haired that stood out to look like dog ears. His golden eyes shined in the night as he looked out at the group.

The group was relatively big and had no specific age demography. From what he could see, he spotted a girl dressed why to flashy, she had long pink hair kept in two pig tails and her face held a bored expression as she played with one the ends. Next to her was a scrawny looking boy with longish black hair, he seemed to be talking to the pink haired girl, though she didn't seem to be interested and had an annoyed look on her face. The next one to stick out was a young looking male, possibly in his late teens, with short-ish brown hair. He looked down and had a sour looked on his face and his eyes were downcast. The group was continuing to chatter amongst themselves, as the boy watched him from his spot.

As he looked down at the group he had a feeling that something wasn't right. He couldn't place it put the people below gave him an off feeling…

"Alright everyone it's time for another hunt, go out into a village, either pick a target and feed and becareful not to get caught!" he said as the group seem to nod at this.

"Also has anyone seen Yuzuki?" he asked out as the others looked each other, chattering and shaking their heads.

Alexandru remained wordless as he stood on his spot on the small cliff unnoticed by the group below. Though it would appear the group was heading to the villages and apparently they were going hunting, he played with the sucker in his mouth; leaving the cliff he quickly made his way through the forest before disappearing.

To Be Continued…


	2. Chapter 2

Dance of Night, Death of Day; Chapter 2: The Child in the Village

He walked down the busy street; today he was going to introduce himself to the villagers. After washing and putting his clothes on, he made his way down to the village. He had been to a few houses introducing him-self to the villagers. Everyone seemed really nice and had given him good greetings. He had been to the café, the liquor store, the library, and other houses.

Strangely he remembered how all the adults told him to stay home at night because of strange disappearances. He laughed at the thought and he continued to walk down the streets.

Though it was now the afternoon, the sun was beginning to drift down and many people were closing up for the night. As he passed by the shops he waived to a few people, smiling with not a care in the world. He noticed a man sitting in front of one of the buildings; he had tan skin, brown eyes and messy brown hair, and facial stubble. He was wearing a white lab coat over a T-shirt and blue pants, with cigarette in hand he took a long inhale before releasing a puff of smoke that disappeared into the air.

"Hello" he greeted, looking to the side brown met red, as the little boy stood to the side of him, "You know smoking is bad for your health" he said as the doctor looked at the child, "Didn't your parents tell you not to talk to strangers" the man said as the boy smiled.

"Maybe, I'm Alexandru, but my friends call me Alex, what's your name?" he asked happily as the man put out his cigarette, "My names Ozaki Toshio, I'm the village doctor. You must be new, did you move here with your parent's"

"Hmm, no it's just me, I moved here just yesterday" he explained taking a seat next to the doctor, "I came to the village to meet everyone since I didn't have time yesterday" he laughed as Ozaki gave a small smile.

"A child home alone, that doesn't sound safe" he said as the boy just puffed his cheeks playfully, "It's fine I can take care of myself! Plus I have my friends with me" he exclaimed as the man smirked a little standing up, "You should get back home a child shouldn't be out this time of night" he said walking away, "I'm not a child!" he said as he watched the male walk away.

"Oh wait!" he called out running up to the man, "Huh?"

"Before you go I wanted to give you this" he suddenly pulled out a small brown folder handing it to the man, "What is it?"

"My medical records, when you transfer to a new city or village, you're supposed to transfer your records to your new location" he said as he watched doctor look at the folder, "Hm, thanks, that's very perceptive. Have a good night and get home safe kid" he said before walking away again.

He was rather rude, but he did sound worried for the boys safety, he would make a good friend he smiled happily before walking back up the road. The sun had now set and darkness now over shadowed the sky and the moon and stars its only source of light.

Again Alex found himself on the main road that lead through the village, as he made his way down the road he looked up and noticed the large mansion sitting on the hill. It was odd seeing the large mansion in such a rural village, particularly a castle like that that seemed to shadow the village and cast an eerie shadow on the villagers. He hadn't yet met the people up there and it would be rude not to introduce himself.

He decided he would just pop by and say hello to the owners of the house and made his way up the hill to the castle.

Alex laughed as he walked up to the castle on the hill or was it a mansion? Suddenly something caught his attention. From up the road he saw what appeared to be a couple possibly headed toward the village. One was a young man with weird light blue hair and vinous eyes and dressed in elegant clothing and a cape. On his arm was a young woman with golden curly blond hair and an attractive figure. Their presence was glowing as they walked down the path. Soon they stopped in the middle of the path, the older couple was smiling at him.

"Good evening little boy, lovely night for a stroll" the man said as Alex just stood there, but nodded him agreement, "And a good evening to you too sir and mam"

. "Oh aren't you a cute little thing~" she cooed and smiled at the bright eyed boy, "Are you lost?" she asked as he shook his head, "No, I'm not lost mam, I'm was headed up to meet the people on the hill" he said pointing up to the castle as Chizuru made an 'o' with her lips, before smiling back down at the boy, squatting down so that she was eye level with him.

"My name is Chizuru! Chizuru Kirishiki" she introduced herself playfully as the boy blinked innocently, "Hello Ms. Kirishiki my name is Alexander, but people call me Alex" he smiled and Chizuru laughed, "My what a cute little thing you are, just adorable!"

"Well nice to meet you Alex, I am Seishirou Kirishiki" he introduced himself with a curt bow.

"Nice to meet you, do you live in the village?", he asked as the man shook his head

"No, we don't stay in the village" he shook his head, "Yes we live in Kanemasa"

"Kanemasa?" he repeated unknowingly cocking his head a little,

"Yes is the large house up on the hill" Chizuru said pointing up as the boy made a shocked expression.

"Wow you live in that huge house!" he awed as the two just smiled, "Oh everyone always says that! It's just a nice home to live in" Chizuru blushed

"My apologizes if I offended you" he apologized

"Think nothing off it" he brushed it off happily, "No I must apologize, I guess I was surprise to see such a couple in a rural area like Sotoba, plus I haven't been seeing a lot of people out this late" he said

"Oh?"

"Yep, everyone says people shouldn't walk at night because there are monsters that kidnap people" Alex said as the couple looked down at the small boy.

"Oh what a silly notion, monsters kidnapping people" Chizuru laughed as Alex puffed his cheeks, "You shouldn't listen to silly rumors young man, you'll have nightmares" the man said as Alex continued to pout.

"I guess"

"Anyway since you're here I would just like to say it's nice to meet you" he bowed to the two politely, "I hope you have a wonderful evening" he said as the two waived a goodbye as Alex turned and began his trek back down the hill. It started off as a walk, but as he got closer and closer to his home he broke out into a run, never stopping or looking back. As he passed a group of tree's he suddenly stopped.

In the forest not that off from the village yet concealed behind the tree's and brushes of nature is a humble home.

Alex walked up the short path and opened the door before shutting it closed and locking it tight. With a deep exhale, he turned and began taking off his shoes and setting his backpack on the side with his shoes. The house looked rather comfortable, some boxes here and there of stuff that had to be unpacked. He would get to it tomorrow; right now he wanted a snack. Moving through the boxes he made his way to the kitchen, opening the white appliance he looked through the small amount of the food in the fridge and had to remember to go shopping tomorrow.

Out of the fridge he took a small juice books and some fruit in a small bowl which consisted of cherries, apple slices, and strawberries. With a smile he took his snack and headed up stairs.

The Next Day…

"Alright it's time to get to work!" Alex exclaimed happily, today he was going to fix up the house and do some cleaning. He fixed the scarf on his head making sure it held his hair back.

"Okay first let's start in here, this place defiantly needs a good dusting" he said running a finger over the bookshelf as some dust appeared on his finger. "Then some sweeping, unpacking, mopping and then lunch" he said rubbing his hands together,

"Alright let's begin!" and so it began as the small boy did his task of cleaning the house. He started with the living room, then the kitchen placing dishes in the cupboards and shelves, unpacking boxes and cleaning the windows in the house. With a contented smile he looked around the newly cleaned house,

"Now it's snack time!" he cheered happily as he went to make himself a snack, as he ate in the kitchen before noticing the time, it was almost eight o'clock,

"I guess time does fly when your cleaning" he said cheerfully finishing his juice, "I guess all that's left to do is go for a walk" he said before removing his scarf and placing it on the counter.

In the forest that overlooked the village, to the side that gave anyone a good view of the house on the hill, three figures sat spying behind the brush of the trees towards the house. They had just finished re-burying Megumi's grave with the fresh body of a man or vampire that tried to attack Kaori.

"What should we do now guys?" Kaori asked as she looked at her brother and Natsuno.

"We should get home, it's getting dark" he said as the sun was preparing to set and they would be in real trouble if they got caught in the dark. As they were about to leave something came flying from the forest and straight into Akira sending him to the ground.

"Akira!" his sister went to aid her brother, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah" he groaned rubbing his head, "What hit me?" looking around he spotted something on the ground and picked it up,

"What's this?" he said looking down at the small circular object, "It looks like a cranberry" Kaori said,

"How did a cranberry hit me?" he said, suddenly something else came flying out from the forest this time hitting Kaori who gasped a little.

"What the hell?" suddenly fruit came from the forest landing to the ground, "It's a fruit attack!?" Akira said as they covered themselves from the sudden fruit storm. As soon as it started it stopped and after a minute they put their arms down and looked toward the forest. Suddenly they heard a rustling before someone emerged from the forest.

"It's…"

"A little boy?" they looked at the small child that emerged from the village.

"Hello!" he greeted the three who continued to stare at the boy, "Excuse me but have you seen any fruit around?" he asked looked around seeming to be completely oblivious to the three covered in the mess of the fruit.

"So that's where my fruit went" he said as the three just stared at the strange boy, "Why were you throwing fruit?" Natsuno said betting Akira who was about to say or rather yell at the boy.

"Sorry about that, I was playing fetch with my pets" he said and the confusion returned to their places, "Fetch?"

"What kind of pet do you play fetch with that involves?" Akira asked as the boy laughed, "Sorry about that, but they won't play fetch unless I us fruit, though we probably need to work on their catching part" he said

"Exactly what kind of bats?", Kaori asked and soon she would get her answer she suddenly gasped as tiny red dots appeared inside the forest.

"Huh?" looking back Alex smiled before turning towards the three, "Don't be afraid, those are my pets" he said, "What the hell kind of pets are those?" Akira gulped

"Bats!" he said as they finally saw the winged creatures hanging from the trees

"B-Bats?", Kaori trembled looking at them all

"Fruit bats to be precise" he giggled as one kind down and settled on his shoulder licking his cheek electing a giggle from the boy.

'Weird kid' Natsuno thought composing himself, "Hey kid?" the black haired boy looked at him, "Who are you?" he said as the boy blinked before smiling, "Hello, my name is Alexander, but I like to be called Alex" he said, "What's your name?" he asked politely as the three looked at the child.

"Um…my name Kaori" the girl introduced herself, "This is my brother Akira and our friend Natsuno" she said pointing to the two males.

"Nice to meet you Ori, Aki, and Natsu-su~" he said and the three almost fell out by the boys nicknames for them,

"Man what a weird kid" Akira mumbled, "So why are you guys sitting in the bushes?" he said as the three looked at each other again.

"Um…we…" the siblings tried to think of an excuse, they didn't want to involve a small child in their investigation.

"Are you looking at Kanemasa?" he said squatting in the bushes, "Wait you know about Kanemasa?"

"Not really, but I met the people that live there" he said looking at the large mansion, "They seem nice, kind of flashy though, not something you would see in a village like this" he said

"So you met them, the Kirishiki's" Akira asked as the boy nodded, "Yep, their a man a Seishirou, he's kinda strange and then there's the wife Chizuru she's pretty but still strange" he said as he looked at the house,

"What's so strange about them?" Natsuno asked, "Well for one thing the lady, Zuru-Zuru, when she touched me her skin felt like ice, it was so cold" he shivered at the thought, "Also on the night I first got here, I saw of a group of people gathered in the forest" he said earning gasps from others, "A group of people?"

Alex nodded again, "Listen kid, did you hear anything they were saying!" Natsuno asked rather urgently, "Let me see, the only thing I could here, was something about hunting and something about the village" he said, the three looked at each other, then back to the boy,

"Did any of them see you?" the boy shook his head, "Nope" he said but turned back the three,, "Why are you so interested Kanemasa?" he asked as the three seem to freeze that question.

"Um no reason"

"Yeah just curious I guess"

The boy just blinked at their odd behavior before standing back up, "Well it was nice to meet you guys, sorry again about the fruit business" he said and the bats seem to copy him giving small squeaks and chirps.

"Um no problem" Kaori reassured the boy who smiled happily,

'Aw he's actually kinda cute' she thought with a blush

"It's getting late" Natsuno said looking up at the sky, the sun disappearing behind the mountains, "We should get home before night falls" he said

"Your right it's getting dark, lets hurry and get home Akira" Kaori said as her brother nodded,

"Well it was nice meeting you Alex" she said as the young boy nodded, "It was nice to meet you guys too have a good night" he said before walking back into the forest, "Alright everyone time to go home now!" he said and the sound of flapping wings echoed through the forest and one by one the bats scattered into the tree's.

"Natsuno I don't think it's safe for a little boy to be wondering around the forest at night"

"She's right big brother what if one of those 'things' get him" they whispered to the purple head male. In truth he wasn't too keen on letting the boy wonder the woods no don't those creatures would be out and he was a sitting target if he got caught.

"Well what do you think we should do?" the three looked at each other, smoothing back his hair, Natsuno sigh, "Hey kid!" he called and moved to see the boy stopping to look at the purple haired teen.

"Huh?"

"Listen kid it's not safe for you to be wondering the woods at night" he stated as big crimson eyes looked up at the teen, "Huh?"

"Come on kid" he said offering his hand, Alex just looked at him then back at the hand, and he slowly brought his hand up placing it in the teens that closed around his smaller one. With that the four walked back into the village.

Unbeknownst to them, a pair of yellow eyes watched them,

"Mom dad I'm home!" Natsuno called as he entered the house.

"Ah Natsuno welcome home" a voice said, as a woman walked out wiping her hands, as she greeted her son she noticed the little boy standing next to him.

"Oh Natsuno you brought a friend" she said smiling at the small boy, "And who might you be?" the boy looked up at the woman and said, "Hello mam, I'm Alexander, but people call me Alex" he said very politely

"Oh aren't you polite, nice to meet you, I'm Azusa Yuuki" she smiled introducing herself to the small boy, "Is it all right if he spends the night here?" her son asked,

"Spend the night?"

"You see Alex lives by himself in a house in the woods, it was late and…"

"I see, you didn't him walking in the woods all by himself, that was very responsible of you Natsuno" she said as the teen looked off a blush on his face, "Of course he can stay the night" she said

"Thank you Ms. Yuuki"

"Oh Natsuno before I forget you have a guest" a man said, "Oh whose this?" he said looking at the boy,

"My names Alexander, but people call me Alex" he said, "Dear this Natsuno's friend; he's going to be spending the night" Azusa said

"Oh, well it's nice to meet you Alex; I'm Natsuno's father, Yuuki" he introduced himself to the small child,

"Dad you said something about a guest?" he asked as his father nodded, "Who is it, Tamo-chan?"

"No, this strange little girl with a puppet, she's waiting in your room" he said and Yuuki's eyes widened,

"In my room?" he said walking towards the back, "You don't let anyone into my room!" he said and went straight toward the back followed by his parents and Alex. As they entered through the door, Yuuki looked around but spotted no one inside,

"There's no one in here" he said

"Huh!?", his mother gasped in surprise, "Maybe she's hiding?"

"She was in here when I brought her tea; she was sitting on the floor in the dark"

"Maybe she left out the window" Yuuki said noting the open window. Yuuki thought for a second, before reaching a conclusion. After the 'guest' incident you excused himself to make a phone call to the Tanaka home.

Alex's POV

I'm not spying, just curious. Natsu-su seems worried, very worried. I had put my stuff in Yuuki's room, before following him, silently, and was now sitting on the side of the wall that cornered the hall.

"Listen if anyone comes to your homes looking for you, turn them away" he said to the others on the line, "Because your families might invite the undead" he said. So that's what it was, I had heard about an old rule that says that some creatures can't enter homes without being invited. I hear the phone being put on the cradle.

End of POV

"Are you okay Natsu-su?" he asked as the teen peered down at the small boy and sighed, "It's nothing" he said, "And don't call me Natsu-su"

"Okay Yuuki-kun!" he trembled hearing that name, "You know what, just call me Natsu-su" he sighed defeated.

Later that night,

Alex was curled up in Yuuki's bed sleeping, his mother…unfortunately enough, had found one of Natsuno's old sleeping PJ's which he prayed no one would ever see. But for right now he had more pressuring things to contend with, his closed minded parents had invited the undead into the house. No doubt they had come for him,

He clutched the wrench he kept for protection and as the minutes ticked by the room was silent, save for Alex's small snores. Suddenly the quite was shattered by a noise, looking around him before his eyes fell on the window. A shadow stood on the screen, as tapping continued to play. Natsuno sat on the side wrench in hand, looking down he noted the boy was still asleep. Good, he didn't want the kid involved more then he already was.

Suddenly the shadow became fuller until he could see a full silhouette; he could see the shadow gripping the window seemly trying to get it open.

'Of course it's locked, now what are you going to do?"

Standing up he slowly moved toward the side of the window, wrench firmly gripped in one hand ready to strike.

"No…" he blinked as a voice filled the room, "Natsuno, it's me" the voice said as they knocked on the window. It was so familiar, he thought maybe it was Tamo-chan, he was the only one could think of that would call him that…

But as he thought about it someone else did come to mind, he sighed. Placing his hand on the screen he threw the window open with a snap. Violet eyes peered outside, behind the glass and saw the forest that sat not too far from his house. His eyes peered down and spotted the back of a figure leaning down hiding his face.

"Who is it?" he called out

"It's me"

His hands placed with the lock that separated him from the thing out there. He knew it was a grave mistake, but his finger pushed down on the lock. With a deep breath he began opening the window; looking outwards he tried to see who was out there.

"Natsu-su?" looking back he saw Alex sitting up on the bed, the round ears of his pajama's sticking up as he rubbed his eyes with his 'paws'. To explain the only pajama's that fit him was a pair of brown footie pajamas.

"Alex?" tired red eyes looked at the teen, "Why are you at the window?" he said but before he could answer Natsuno gasped as he felt something grab his wrist and he found himself being jerked outside.

"Natsu-su!" Alex gasped as he began moving out of the bed, "Stay back, kid!" he commanded, Alex just shook his head and grabbed his other arm, thought it wasn't that tight because of the paws covering his hands,

'Stupid paws', but he continued to pull at the teen, with on good jerk he was able to pull himself free, the force causing Alex to fall back on the room floor,

"Owe" he squeaked, looking up he saw the teen staring out the window, he was about to asked what was wrong when suddenly the teen jumped out his window, Alex gasped shocked before standing up and wobbling toward the window and peered over just in time to see Natsuno run into the forest.

"Natsu-su!" he called as he leaned forward he frantically tried to balance himself before falling out of the window landing on his face, "Owe!" he squeaked rubbing his sore nose, "Luckily this bear suit broke my fall" he thought before he remembered, "Natsu-su!" he quickly got up and made a dash for the forest!

"Natsu-su! Natsu-su!" he called out running through the forest and searching for the teen, suddenly he tripped over something and tumbled to the ground,

"Owe!" he squeaked, "Why am I falling today"

'Where is he?' he thought and continued to search for the teen. After what seemed like hours of searching he took a break in a small area behind some bushes and tree's.

"You prefer it's someone you know, right Yuuki-chan!"

'Natsu-su!?', as he looked through the bushes his eyes widened as he saw him cornered by two figures, a pink haired girl and a blue haired male

'They're' he remembered the forest and the group of people, suddenly two arms shut out of the forest and were reaching out and grabbing Natsuno.

"Leave him alone!" Alex called, all eyes turned back to see the small, bear suit, dressed boy coming out of the bushes holding a small bear cub.

"Alex?"

"Who's the kid?" the male said as he looked at the small boy, "Alex get away! Run!" Natsu-su yelled, "Oh" the blue haired male smiled, "So is this another of your little friends" he emphasized the word little.

"Leave Natsu-su alone!" he repeated rather sternly as the male just laughed, "Aw how cute, a wittle kid is trying to be tough" he cooed as Alex pouted, "Why don't you just run home kid before you get hurt" he said, yellow eyes flashing as he looked at the small boy who was pouting.

"GRRRRRRL!" the small bear growled as the male growled at it and it squeaked in fear.

"You better leave us alone or…or…"

"Or what?" he said as the boy backed up, "Mama!" he said

"Mama?", Natsuno thought when suddenly a roar caught their attention, all eyes turned toward the woods and two eyes gleamed in the shadows before something jumped out shocking the others, looking forwards their eyes widened as they saw what stood in front of them.

"Is that…a bear?" Natsuno looked at the large creature, black fur and blue eyes and sharp teeth and claws.

"Where did a bear come from?" the bear looked back at Alex, but more importantly the small bear who was mewling and making small movements up to the larger bear,

"What's with it?"

"Uh huh, uh huh, yeah, got it" Alex nodded, "'He' said, 'Mama, Mama, the mean dog man is trying to hurt me'" he said

"Dog man?"

"You understood him?"

The baby bear continued to mewl and growl, "He also said, 'Mommy those three were mean to me and my friends'"

"'Oh! And that the pink haired one kicked me!'" at that the bear leered back, teeth drawn as what little color left her face as she and the male next to her back off from the large and very angry black bear who let out a series of growls and snarls,

"Translation, 'HOW DARE YOU TRY AND HARM MY BABY! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!'" the bear growled again as she stalked over to the two whom were still back up, along with the blue haired male who was bringing.

"What am I doing" he thought as a realization crossed his mind, "I'm afraid of some mother bear and her brat" he said, "Alright you…little…" his eyes widened as the bear stood full height, "Damn it" he groaned and suddenly there was a loud bam was sent back by very strong right hook.

As he fell back her eyes fell on the girl gasped, "Tatsumi-san!" the girl said shocked, suddenly she found herself face to face with the very angry bear, "Ah!" when she tried to run the bear grabbed her by the hair, "Hey put me down you over grown rug!" she yelled, be caught herself when the bear growled and yelled as the bear began using her as a punching bag.

As Natsuno watched it reminded him of the cartoons he used to watch, at this point the girl was seeing birdies now.

"Are you okay Natsu-su?" Alex asked as he helped the teen up, "Yeah, fine" he said

"We should probably get out of here" he said as Natsuno nodded, taking one last look he and Alex ran into the forest,

"Oh no you don't you little….Ah!" he suddenly felt himself being pulled back, claws digging into the ground, "Not in the face, Not in the face!" he said as the girl was being held by the bears foot.

Natsuno and Alex ran back to Natsuno's house, "You know you have some explaining to do when we get back"

"Yeah, but let's get back first and then we can talk" Alex said with a playful smile,

'Weird kid'

To Be Continued….


	3. Chapter 3

Dance of Night, Death of Day; Chapter 3; Just a Drop

In the park, Natsuno leaned against the metal poles of the swings, after the incident the night before he knew he had to come up with a plan, but…looking to the side he saw the small child, Alex, swinging, seemingly carefree. He would expect that from a kid, but he,

He wasn't normal,

"Natsuno!"

"Aniki!"

Looking over he saw the Tanaka children running towards them, each dressed in their school uniform.

"Natsuno there you are" Kaori said with a relieved, "Yeah aniki you left school early, what happened?" Akira said,

"Hm, it's complicated" he said debating whether or not to tell them, "The other night, those 'things' attacked me" he said and listened as gasps came from the two kids.

"Natsuno are you okay?"

"Did they…" Natsuno looked at the two and shook his head, "No, we managed to get away before anything happened" he said as relieved exhales filled playground.

"Wait you said 'we'"

"Huh? Yeah, it was actually the kid that saved me" he said pointing to Alex who waived to the others who looked at him in shock, "Alex?"

"But…how?"

"Look it's complicated, the point is those corpse's know that were investigating them, so they'll probably try real hard to silence us" he said as a feel of urgency fell over the group.

"What should we do?" Kaori said possibly the most worried of all, "Maybe we can tell someone" Akira suggested,

"And tell them what, corpses have risen from the dead and are attacking the living villagers in order to turn them into corpses" Natsuno said,

"But you saw them" he rebutted

"Yeah I did, but do you think a bunch of close minded villagers are going to believe us. My parents don't even see the truth" he said thinking of his parents and scoffed, soon the group looked depressed in a since wondering how to handle the problem before them,

"We could run and pretend this never happened" Alex said

"We have family and friends here, we can't just abandon them" Kaori said

"Why don't we catch one of them" Alex said as all eyes turned on the small by, "Capture?"

"Yeah, we can catch one of them and show them the villagers" he said jumping off the swings, "How are we going to catch one of them?" Akira said

"We don't" he said and the others blinked in confusion, "You see on the first night I got here, a guy approached and tried to get me to go with him. I ran because let's face it if a guy in a robe tries to get you to go with him nothing good can come out of it. So anyway he caused me into the forest and once I got my chance I hit him over the head with my flashlight!" he said as the group looked at him in shock and disbelief, "And before you say anything it was self-defense! He wanted my supple milky flesh" he said before continuing the story, "Okay so after that I noticed he wasn't moving and there was blood oozing from his skull and I thought, 'oh no I killed him', thinking he was dead I dug a hole and buried him in the forest" as he finished his story the three looked at him,

"You…killed a guy…"

"And buried him in the woods?"

"Yep" he said, "Great now were accessories to a murder!" Akira exclaimed rather disbelievingly.

"It' okay"

"How is killing a guy and tossing him in the woods okay!?",

"No, I mean the guy was already dead before I hit and buried him" he said

"Wait, already dead, how do you know?"

"Because the next day when I was meeting the villagers I passed by the library and saw his picture" he said, "It was a picture of the dead librarian, he was the one who tried to attack me and I'm pretty sure he wasn't after just my blood" he cringed remembering those beady eyes looking at him, so cold.

"Wait, if that's true maybe he's still in the forest" Natsuno thought,

"Yeah and if he is, we can tie him up and show him to everybody!" he said very confidently, "Listen kid can you take us to where you buried him?" Alex nodded and happily exclaimed, "Yep, leave it to me!"

After running home and grabbing some digging tools, the three followed Alex into the forest until they reached a spot, "This is it!" he said standing on a large spot,

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Alex nodded, "Yep I'm sure I buried him right…huh?" suddenly the smile fell and was replaced by that of confusion, "What…but…I buried him right here?" he looked back and forth,

"Maybe this is not the right spot" Kaori said

"No it was right here, I remember because there was a big mound of dirt and…" he looked over and ran to a spot in the grass, "See there's still some blood where he fell at" he said pointing down to the ground, it was small but there was a small spot of blood on the grass.

"Hm" Natsuno looked at the spot and thought, "Well it's obvious, like before they've covered their tracks in order to hide their existence" he said, "either way it's not enough to prove it too the villagers"

"What, why?"

"Because just showing blood on the forest floor doesn't prove corpses rising up, not to mention they'll want an explanation on how it got there" he sighed, "And I don't think they'll believe the whole, a child beat him over the head and buried his body"

"Oh…no"

"Ah man" the disappointment returned, suddenly an idea popped into Alex's head, "I got an idea!" he said, Natsuno gave an exhale,

"We should get back to the village before nightfall"

"But Natsuno, what if…what if you're attacked again?" Kaori said worried, "She's right Aniki, didn't your parents already invite one of those things in, what if they attack you again!?"

"It's fine"

"Huh?"

"But Natsuno…"

"It's okay, I've got no intention of dying soon, but still. You all should becareful, remember they'll try to get into your homes, don't invite them in. Under any circumstances" he said and everyone nodded,

"Wait"

"What is Kaori?"

"Well I just remembered, what about our parents, they don't know anything about this"

"She's right our parents will probably let them in"

"We'll I guess I'm safe then" Alex said as the three looked at him, "Why's that?"

"Well I live at home by myself"

"By yourself?"

"Yep, the house I live in was given to me by my big sister" he said as the three blinked, "Wait, but what about your parents?"

"Sadly my parents passed away when I was little, so it's just been me and my sister" he explained, "I don't know if that's good or bad, a child home alone, that's screams easy target"

"Maybe, but there no chance of them getting into my home" he said, "I won't let them in!" he declared

"It's getting late" Kaori said as the sky was beginning to grow darker,

"We need to get back home" Natsuno said and everyone nodded and began making their way back towards the village,

Later that night,

Alex was walking in the woods, he knew it was dangerous but maybe he could get proof of the 'corpses' as the others put it. With flashlight in hand he looked around the woods for any signs of suspicious activity.

As he passed a path, he saw a house not too far; it was normal for a house, but something seemed off. Curiously he went to go investigate. As he came close to the house he looked around and noticed the door was wide open. He had heard that people here didn't lock their doors, but this was a bit much.

Looking inside, he saw darkness, "Hello?" he called inside, "I'm sorry to bother you, your door was open, anyone home?" he called further shining his flashlight around the house. As he went further, he opened the door to another room and saw something on the ground,

Alex held the flashlight a smell caught his nose,

'That smell…it can't…be…' his eyes widened a little and his hands began to shake, as he looked at the male his eyes moved to see the figure on the floor. It was an old man lying across the floor, but what he saw mostly was the red,

"Blood…" his body began to tremble, his teeth chattering and his body trembling. A thumping sound pulsed in his ears, he was scared, terrified, he slowly began backing away, dropping his flashlight. It hit the floor with a thump, the light flickering before shining on the body.

"I can't…I can't" the red was surrounding him, the voices, those voices, "I had to…I had to…" he backed away further feeling the shadows creeping up on him, his back met the wall as he slide down onto the ground, eyes still wide.

Alex POV

The metallic perfume is swimming in my head, how long had it been? How many years had it been since I…no, I shake my head trying to get those thoughts to disappear.

"I can't do it" I gulp; my throat feels so dry, as I stare at the body. Would it be so bad, just one tastes, a drop, that wouldn't change anything.

"Just…one…drop" I slowly move over to the body, I can see it, the red elixir dripping from the parts of the neck. Placing my ear on him, I can't hear anything. No breathe or heartbeat,

'He's dead'

With another gulp, I reach down, tracing my finger into the small pull of blood feeling the red stain my digit. Bringing it up I study it, it's warm. Bringing my finger to my lips, I can feel my them part before slipping it into my mouth.

It was almost…nostalgic

Even though it was only a drop, the metallic taste danced on my tongue. Licking the last of the residue from my finger I looked at the body still on the floor.

Sitting back against the wall, flashlight in hand, I stared at the body like it would get up at any second now. The smell of blood still lingered in the air and I could still taste it's sweetness on my tongue. I wasn't wrong, I didn't kill him, it was only a drop, a taste.

"I promised I wouldn't do it", was it guilt I felt?

"I promised myself just the candy, but…" I close my eyes and I see the red, the crimson life to all surrounding me, like an endless sea.

End of POV

The next few days seemed the same as the next, though the situation was beginning to change. Besides the villagers becoming ill and dying, some people were beginning to move away. What was strange was that they left only a note or moved in the middle of the night.

Akira was walking in the woods, after getting some directions and some looking around he had managed to locate the house that belonged to Alex. He hadn't seen the boy in a couple days and was becoming worried; since he lived alone it would be hard for anyone to check on him if he got hurt. Making his way to the house, he noticed it was fairly normal. Plants and shrubs in various places, going up to the door he knocked and waited for someone to come,

"Alex? Alex are you home it's me Akira!" he said, but received no answer; trying the door he found it was unlocked. Slowly he pulled the door open, peeking inside he noticed it was empty.

"Hello? Alex?" entering inside he shut the door behind him, looking around he noted the house was in good condition, nice and clean. As he looked around for Alex he heard something coming from upstairs, looking around he saw a staircase.

'Upstairs' he went to the stairs and slowly began to walking up until he made it to the second floor. It was dark, scanning the hall he saw a door open. Walking over, he found himself standing in front of the door, placing a hand on the door he slowly opened door to look inside, it was much lighter inside,

"Alex?" he said looking closer inside and found it was a bedroom, looking closer he saw a lump on the bed, was Alex sleeping?

Walking further inside he went closer to the bed, as he looked over his eyes widened and he jumped back,

"What the hell…" instead of long black hair he saw short brown with a curl on top and a face that he could never forget.

Suddenly footsteps could be heard, someone was coming up the steps. Frantically Akira looked around; he quickly went to the closet, ducking inside before closing the door. As he sat in the closet, the door to the room slowly opened again, looking outwards the boy watched as a familiar head of black.

'Alex' he watched as the small boy closed the door, he was holding something in his hands, squinting he could make out a clear glass. He watched as the boy went toward the bed standing only a few feet from the bed.

"Hey time to wake up" he said, suddenly eyes opened slowly, blinking before fully opening, the small child looked over the Alex who was smiling warmly at him.

"Good Morning, Mu-Mu" he said greeting the boy, "Well it's more like afternoon, I thought you might be hungry" he said showing the boy the glass, his reddish brown eyes looked at the glass, "T-Thank you" he said rather meekly before taking the glass.

As Akira watched from the closet he couldn't believe his eyes, he knew the boy was weird but he never thought he was, he couldn't even find the word to describe him now.

"I know you don't like being stuck in this room" Alex said as he watched the boy drink, "Soon you'll be able to go out and play with everyone else" he said as the boy continued to drink the red liquid.

"I already gave some to Romi-Romi. Oh did I tell you I made some new friends" he said and Akira continued to listen, "Yeah Kira, Ori-Ori, and Natsu-su" at this Akira gasped a little, he was talking about them.

"There really nice, you probably don't remember them" he said looking at the small boy as he finished drinking the liquid until the last drop, "All done" he said taking the glass from the boy, "Now remember get plenty of sleep and I'll be back later to check on you" he said but as he went to leave the boy grabbed his arm, looking back Alex saw the sad look on the boy's face.

"You must still be hungry" he said and the other boy nodded, "Hm, I guess I could get more" he said, as he sat in the closet, he turned, he had to get out and tell someone,

"If I show them this they'll know about the rising corpses, yes" he said to himself in a whisper, "Now to get out of this closet" he said and looked back into the room, as he sat there he didn't noticed the shadow behind him or the eyes that pierced through the darkness.

At the Tanaka home, Koari was in the living room doing homework, looking at the time she saw it was almost seven, she wonder where her brother was. She remembered he said something about doing some more investigating, he hoped he didn't get into any trouble.

Suddenly the door opened revealing her brother, Akira.

"Akira your home" Koari said relieved as she watched her bother close the door, removing his shoes, "Akira? Are you okay?" she asked confused by her brother silence it wasn't like her brother not to speak,

"Akira?" she said again as she watched as her brother who looked at her, "Huh? Sorry about sis" he apologized scratching his cheek playfully smiling at his sister, who slowly smiled back, "Where have you been Akira I was about to get a search party" she said, though it was truthful, "Huh? Oh I went to go to see Alex"

"Alex?" she said thinking about the young boy, "Yeah, Aniki noticed he hadn't been around for a couple of days and I volunteered to check on him" Koari nodded at this remembering that the small boy lived by himself in the forest. He noticed the look of worry on her face, "Don't worry sis he's fine" he reassured her, until she nodded and slowly went back to her homework.

Earlier that day,

Akira sat in the closet waiting for a chance to escape, as he looked through the small opening, in the back hidden beneath the shadows, red glowed from the darkness looking at the other. Akira tensed, feeling a cold chill, with wide eyes he slowly turned and gasped seeing the red glowing orbs staring at him. He suddenly gasped again as he found himself falling backwards tumbling to the floor,

"Owe" he hissed rubbing his head, but as he looked up, the pain in his head forgotten as large red eyes looked down at him surround by a familiar veil of black. His mind screamed for him to get away, but his body wouldn't move, it felt like something was holding him down.

"Akira?" it was like a whisper, those large eyes which he had come to know as large and full of cheer, seemed to be tilting between happiness and another emotion, sadness.

"A-Alex?" he moved feeling his voice weaken as he stared into the deep pools of red, he found he couldn't look away, like some strange power drawing him in. He watched light brown eyes slowly become hazy and docile, light caramel wrapped in deep cheery red.

As he looked down at the boy he had come to know as a friend he debated on what to do and with sigh he knew what had to be down,

It was only a drop, but soon that one drop would become a sea

Alex P.O.V

As the days passed and the summer heat continued not even the heat's haze could cover the smell of blood and graveyard dirt. The investigation continued, me and the three villagers, we continued to look and prove the existence of the happenings around the village and prove that the family on the hills were responsible. For my part I kept 'them', the undead away from Natsuno and the Tanaka siblings. It was rather simple I used my bats as 'watchdogs' without them knowing, for some reason I didn't want them harmed, they were my friends.

Even though I had been here a short time I felt a friendship with the villagers, well some of the villagers. Not many…but still. I can see the way they look at me; I can hear the whispers of the boy who lives alone in the forest. I remember once I tried to befriend with two kids who lived a little ways from the village.

One was a boy and the other was a girl, Shigeki and Shiori Meada. But, their mother, a woman named Motoko didn't seem too fond of me, mostly because I wasn't from the village and lived alone in the forest. I know it's wrong, but in the back of my mind I hoped they or who ever got her next. Though I felt pity for her, she lost her father-in-law and her husband.

A few days ago I heard a woman died at the clinic where that doctor I met works, Ozaki I believe. The woman was elderly, what was here name? I think it was Setsuko. Earlier in the summer her daughter-in-law died, followed by her son, and soon her husband, now she was dead also. No doubt another victim of 'them' and as the days continued those two did become his friends.

The evenings were so beautiful in the village, he sighed contently as he looked to the scenery and a few woodland creatures that had come about. It was passed 6:00 and was now becoming dusk. Soon the sun will be retreating to the other side of the world and would return in half a day's time.

I read in a book that okiagari, the name for the undead around here, can't stand sunlight like the living can. Their skin begins to burn and turn inside out causing a great deal a pain as they slowly die. I chuckle at the notion, the sun doesn't bother me, I actually like the sunlight. So warm and inviting it reminds me of my mother…

As I sit on the cool mountain grass under a shady tree where the sun's rays can't reach through the thick lush leaves, I feel tired for some reason…

End of P.O.V

As Alex lay under the tree, cover in the shade as leaves slowly feel below landing below, eyes closed and hands folded over his chest. If anyone passed it would looked like he was lying in his own wake, peacefully, almost dead,

The sun began drifting down cloaking the forest in a deeper shade of black, as the light vanished with the sun living only the moon as the guardian to look over and provide light. Alex continued to nap under the tree's surrounded by small creatures of the forest at his side. His long black hair created a veil around him making him look feminine in perspective.

As he slept and softly slumbered, a pair of bright red eyes suddenly peered from the forest darkness looking directly at the small boy. He continued to sleep though the animals raised their heads sensing something amiss.

The eyes came closer and closer, a large figure walked out from the darkness toward the small child who still had not noticed him yet. Closer and closer it came, until the creature was right over the boy until it seemed like he could not run, some of the animals and tensed and growled at the figure.

His eyes looked up to see two cold, red eyes looking toward him, the owner of the eyes came out of the forest. His skin was pale, yet looked almost gray, his hair was gray and he had a muscular build and a cocky, almost sadistic grin on his face as he looked towards the boy ignoring the animals that leered at him.

Suddenly Alex's eyes snapped opened and blinked once, before a smile formed on his face.

"Hello, would you happen to be okiagari?" he said with a normal tone as the large man looked shocked from the sudden action, but quickly returned to smirk and grunted. Alex stood up and was now fully facing the large man.

"Hehe, I guess I did it again, I keep falling asleep in the most ridiculous of places" he laughed at himself, "Ya know a few days ago I feel asleep near the pipe system…weird"

"You should know, just because I'm a child doesn't mean I won't go down without a fight" he said taking a defiant stance, suddenly the male lunged at him but Alex dodged "You know you look familiar" his eyes flashed as the male just grunted again and charged toward him again, he was quick, he would give him that.

He pounced on the boy who just moved out of the way, with each attempt to grab him Alex dodged and jumped from side to side out of the man's reach.

"Right I saw your picture in the Meada house" he said dodging again, "Your Shi-Shi and Guire-Guire grandfather, right?" a look flashed in the man's eyes, though it quickly changed back to that of a predator.

"I told you I won't go done without a fight" Alex said as the man charged at him again, as he lunged toward him Alex jumped, using his back as a spring to do a front flip and land on the other side behind the male who slowly rose beck up and turned to the boy with his beady red eyes.

"I'm Alex by the way!" he said as the man gave him a confused look, "I just wanted to know so you can remember the name of the one that killed you!"

The man just growled and charged toward him again, Alex didn't move as strong hands grabbed him around the boy's throat. He was now hanging in mid-air, small hands clawing at the others hands as he continued to squeeze and tighten making it harder for him to breath. The larger male continued to squeeze his grip and with one final squeeze a snapping noise echoed through the forest. The boy's hands went lax and fell to the side lifeless as his red eyes were now dull and unresponsive. The man released the boy letting him fall to the forest floor with a thud.

As he turned to leave the corpse, his job finished he didn't notice as small hands twitched, toes wiggled, before crimson red eyes snapped open.

Iwao only stood there, a bead of sweat falling down his temple, with a rough cough blood began flowing in globs from his mouth, eyes widening.

A hand protruded from his chest, blood splattering across the floor as his body trembled with pain, behind him a laugh could be heard,

"I must say it's been a while sense someone's broken my neck" the boy said moving and jerking his hand inside the body, "It's an interesting feeling being strangled, the air slipping before it snaps completely and your body goes limp" he gave a twisted smile before moving his twitching fingers, blood spurting on his face, a dark look on his face as he cracked his fingers and bared his fangs.

As he prepared to strike he swore he heard the words mercy and spare me, he could not be spared, they could not be speared, he did not show mercy.

'But he promised'

With a sigh he removed his hand, stepping back as the body laid on the blood dripping everywhere

"See I told you I hold my end of the bargain" suddenly a figure stood out from the forest, her hair blue and swirled, and her blue eyes hazy as she stuttered from the forest. As she stood from the forest her eyes feel on the man on the ground,

"Damn you old man"

To Be continued…


End file.
